New Decentralized Actuator System Design and Control for Cost-Effective Active Suspension

A new active suspension control system that replaces the existing complex hydraulic systems was proposed in this paper by reviewing recent research and development trends. We studied the actuator system characteristics, force, and damping control by conducting studies on actuator dynamics, which are yet to be studied in the literature. Moreover, many damping and active force mechanism concept studies have been conducted based on several proposed hydraulic circuits. Based on the conducted studies, a new decentralized actuator system was designed for compact and efficient vehicle control. For the piecewise control, a model-based actuator force control algorithm was proposed with consideration of the individual main component non-linearity for force application scalability. Based on a semi-active system applied to the existing commercialization, the on-demand electric pump at each wheel is integrated into the system circuit to propose a realistic, cost-effective solution. Additionally, from the vehicle control point of view, an integrated control algorithm for active suspension was developed using a model-based control method and conventional map-based inverse control methods, considering nonlinear actuator characteristics and road input disturbance. Finally, the performance of the proposed control system was evaluated using a simulation technique and an actual test platform.